National Collaborations

The UAB Alzheimer's Disease Center participates in several national collaborative research programs investigating AD and potential new therapies. These include:

Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS). The ADCS is an NIH-funded initiative developed in response to a perceived need to advance research in the development of drugs that might be useful for treating patients with AD, particularly drugs that might not be developed by industry. UAB has participated in many ADCS-sponsored trials, including Vitamin E/Selegiline, Homocysteine, Statins, Estrogen, Huperzine, DHA, IVIG, Home-Based Assesesments, and Prevention Instrument Trials. Dr. Geldmacher is the UAB site representative to the ADCS for the ongoing A4 trial. Dr. Marson has been the UAB site PI for several ADCS-sponsored trials. He is also a member of the ADCS Internal Ethics Committee and chaired this committee from 1999 to 2007.

Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initative (ADNI). Since 2005, the longitudinal Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has been validating the use of biomarkers including blood tests, tests of cerebrospinal fluid, and MRI/ PET imaging for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trials and diagnosis. UAB has participated in each phase of this study, including ADNI-1, ADNI-GO, ADNI-2, and now ADNI-3.

Advancing Research and Treatment for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ARTFL). The ARTFL consortium is an integrated group of academic medical centers partnered with patient support organizations and dedicated to conducting clinical research in sporadic and familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) syndromes. ARTFL is funded by the National Institutes of Health and is part of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network. Dr. Roberson is the site PI at UAB.